Summary: Costco gets creative to meet shoppers' huge appetite for organics

“Costco gets creative to meet shoppers’ huge appetite for organics”
Janet I. Tu, Seattle Times

​This provides an example of how traditional market forces can be harnessed in innovative ways to support alternative production methods that improve social equity and environmental sustainability.  As a group of investors looking to meet similar goals, CFFP can partner with and equip other local retailers and distributors to create similar programs.
 
Article Summary: “While organic food sales reached nearly 5 percent of total food sales last year, organic farmland makes up only about 1 percent of U.S. farm acreage.” Demand far exceeds production, and retailers are now playing an important role in bridging that gap.  Companies including Costco, Whole Foods, and PCC are employing a number of creative mechanisms that help farmers acquire land, scale up, or transition to organic farming. Techniques include land and equipment loans as well as creation of farmland trusts.